


And You Would Be Mine

by Phia



Series: Powerful [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Australia, M/M, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-12
Updated: 2015-08-12
Packaged: 2018-04-14 07:15:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4555578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phia/pseuds/Phia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You're not supposed to use your superpower to bring the guy you like back from Australia. But nothing's ever stopped Haru before.</p><p>Bronze Prompt, Superheroes, for August 11th.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And You Would Be Mine

**Author's Note:**

> I'm considering continuing this with a series, so let me know if that would be a good idea!

Makoto links him to an article about it, and that's how Rin finds out. He’s busy in Australia, how would he keep up on news from home? So he mostly relies on his friends to help him out. Makoto never lets him down.

Except with this.

“ _SUPERHERO FLOODS JAPAN_ ” the headline reads. Rin sighs, raking his fingers through his hair. He settles into the couch cushions and stares at the picture at the top of the article.  
  
Tokyo’s steel buildings stab into the sky. Amidst them is a cerulean wave, acting as a pedestal for the person standing on its crest. His dark hair looks like an inkblot, and he’s still wearing his stupid white jacket.  
  
And that familiar pair of jammers, too. Rin throws his phone onto the couch cushion next to him. His head tips back.  
  
Makoto was supposed to watch Haru! To make sure that he didn’t do anything like this. And now, he’s doing exactly this. Rin picks up the phone again, its screen dark. He taps on it to bring it light, which reminds him of Nagisa’s power.  
  
At least the kid is still in school, doing something with his life, not setting everything ablaze. Rin hates Nagisa's superpower, because the crackling flames from Nagisa's fingers are louder than the kid himself. And hearing everything in high definition definitely doesn’t help Rin out.   
  
His power has never been as useful as Haru’s, though. Rin's always known that Haru and the water are linked. Although, Haru never uses his power for competitions, because that would be betraying the water for his own gain. Even though Haru doesn't favor benefiting from competitions.  
  
But outside, Haru can summon water from the atmosphere, using it to coast on and travel, as well as whip people out.  
  
He clicks on Haru’s contact picture in his phone. In it, Haru looks at the camera with his bright blue eyes, half-lidded, looking as bored as always. Rin finds himself staring at the picture for a little long. Some things don’t change no matter how far you move away. Sighing, Rin clicks on the call button and raises the phone to his ear.  
  
He could have the phone halfway across his apartment and still be able to hear Haru’s voice.  
  
“Hello.”  
  
“What the Hell are you doing?” Rin spits.  
  
There is a pause before Haru says, “Studying for my art classes. Why did you call me?”  
  
Rin sputters. “ _Why_? Because I told Mako to keep an eye on you - and he didn’t. Why are you trying to help people? Just stop it.”  
  
"Tch. Is that the same thing that you told Sousuke when he told you about his physiotherapy degree?”  
  
Rin’s eyes widen. Good thing Haru isn’t there to see it, but he can probably envision it, the stupid kid.  
  
“No! That’s different-”  
  
Rin hears the _scratch_ of pencil on paper. Haru’s curving the pencil, sketching something.  
  
“What’re you drawing?” Rin asks, letting his curiosity get the best of him. _Damn_.  
  
“Your power still works fine. You can come back and join me.”  
  
“Excuse-”  
  
“I only help people on the weekends,” Haru says, as if he’s talking about volunteering at an animal shelter. Not like he’s gathering people in waves, rescuing cats from trees or whatever he does with his spare time.  
  
“That’s not the point-”

“You could come back, pursue whatever. Go to school with me and Makoto. And help me.”  
  
“I’m not just-”  
  
“You’d be able to watch out for me as much as you’d want.”  
  
For a second, it sounds tempting. This isn’t going to last forever. Rin hasn’t fallen out of love with swimming and he still wants to pursue it professionally. But throughout the lengthy days of training and meeting all of his teammates, he’s realized that he may never see his father’s face.  
  
His grip tightens on his phone. _Forget what you're dealing with, forget-_  
  
“Is that what this is about?” Rin says, his voice calming, like water settling into the morning's rays.  
  
Haru’s pencil stops on the page. Rin can hear the moment where the charcoal stutters against the sheet.  
  
“So it is,” Rin says smugly. He smiles, flashing his shark teeth. But no one is there to see his grin.  
  
It is still silent. Haru folds the sketchbook closed, sets the pencil next to it, and Rin can hear the clank of the pencil against the table. Haru taps on the table, a steady rhythm sounding through, before he relents. “Yes.”  
  
Rin swallows. He’s not sure what he was expecting, but it wasn't to be right about something that Haru’s feeling. It’s strange. It’s not something he’s used to.  
  
“I-” Haru starts. “I just.”  
  
“I don’t see what’s wrong with you coming back. Makoto told me. You always talk about here. Never about what’s happening there.”  
  
Rin tugs at the end of his black jacket.  
  
“Is it true?” Haru asks.  
  
Rin doesn’t bother lying. “Yes.”  
  
Haru puts his elbows on the table and leans forward. Rin can hear the swishes of the pants he’s wearing, the sounds of his bare elbows hitting the table. Haru's wearing a polo, and Rin can envision his outfit so clearly, just like Haru can picture him now.  
  
No one besides Rin knows how lonely it is, though. He has his host parents a little bit away, but he never was close with anyone in Australia. He has no friends to fall back on, to cheer with him. Just Makoto informing him on the news and enthusiastic phone calls from Nagisa and Rei. Skyping with Ai and Momo. Daily texts from Sousuke and Gou.  
  
No one has moved as far away as him.  
  
He remembers one night before he left. Coming over Haru’s house. He’d knocked on the door and Makoto wasn’t there, which was surprising. He'd needed a place to stay that night, having hung out with his friends too late into the dusk.  
  
That night Rin brushed his teeth while Haru sat in the bathtub. Rin learned a while ago not to be alarmed. Haru spoke a little more than usual that night. Maybe to grab at all of the little facts about Rin, clutch them close to his chest.  
  
That’s what Rin was doing himself. Looking around the house, watching every flicker of Haru’s eyes as they ate mackerel together and discussed Rin’s move. Trying to memorize everything before he had to go.  
  
Rin felt a few drops of water splash onto the back of his neck. He turned to Haru, raising one red eyebrow in a challenge, plucking Haru’s spare toothbrush out of his mouth. He was half-sure that Makoto used it once.  
  
“Do you still have your power?” Haru murmured, instead of apologizing for the water. It doesn’t look like he splashed it, though, since his hands are still underwater in the tub, and Rin didn’t hear the water splashing.  
  
Some people were born with powers, some weren’t. “Only 10% are born with a power,” Rei would repeat, pushing his glasses up his nose. Nagisa always forgot the percentage for some reason. Rin swears it’s intentional, just so Nagisa can hear Rei spout off some facts. He has to like listening to Rei’s voice, because they both talk too much.  
  
Most people didn’t use their powers, because the powerless often accused them of using them unfairly. This led to the empowered losing their supernatural abilities as they grew older. There were only a couple dozen well-known superheroes in the world, and even less in Asia.  
  
Nagisa and Haru were the only people on the Iwatobi swim team with powers. Nagisa did not hide his fire-forming capability, but Haru never talked about his power. Ai was the only other empowered person from Samezuka that Rin knew. He didn’t know what Ai's power was, though, and it was impolite to ask.  
  
“Yes,” Rin hissed. He ran the toothbrush bristles under water from the sink faucet. “It’s superhearing. And I hate it.”  
  
Haru clicked his tongue. The noise reminded Rin of a dolphin. It still annoys him, how Haru’s developed a series of sounds over the last few months or so, to substitute for speaking.  
  
He might like Haru's voice too much.  
  
“What’s your power?” Rin asked, turning the sink off.  
  
His hair is suddenly drenched in a freezing downpour of water, the red strands falling into his eyes. Rin glared at Haru, sharp teeth gritted, bathwater dripping down his face.  
Haru flashed him a smile.  
  
Now Haru’s asking him to return, to ride on the waves with him, to let the sounds of rushing waters fill his ears, but not because of swimming.  
  
“I’ll think about it,” Rin bursts, surprising himself. Haru chokes on a startled breath, and Rin pulls the phone away from his ear, slamming down on the “End Call” button with his thumb.  
  
He’ll think about it.

 


End file.
